Devil May Cry 5

Devil May Cry 5 (Japanese: デビル メイ クライ 5) is the upcoming fifth installment of the main Devil May Cry series and the sixth installment overall. The game was formally announced at E3 2018 during the Microsoft Press Conference. Set after the events of Devil May Cry 2 , 5 follows Nero as he fights off a widespread demon invasion, all the while looking for the cloaked figure who took the Devil Bringer, before Dante’s return from the demon world. It is set to release on March 8, 2019.

Development
Devil May Cry 5 has been in development since at least 2014, one year before the Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition had been released. Hideaki Itsuno had been working on the game since after DMC4:SE was finished, and the full development team was formed in 2015. Itsuno had a concrete vision at the start of development: Three playable characters, Nero as the protagonist, and the game starting from the loss of his right arm.

In July 5, 2018, Famitsu released a magazine that covered the development of Devil May Cry 5, in it, it was stated that the game was 75% completed.

The game runs on the RE Engine and uses photorealistic graphics, the developers scanned various models to give a realistic look to the characters and even real clothes which were created in London and scanned in Serbia. Making Nero's new jacket cost as much as a small car, however his accessories were not scanned. The Devil May Cry van took more than an year to make, the developers would even joke at the van feeling like a character due to how much time they spent on it, additionally, the writing on the van is the artist's own handwriting, including the neon sign.



In July 25, 2018, Dengeki Online posted an interview with Itsuno, Okabe and Matthew, where Itsuno said he hopes the player will feel emotional and even cry during the story. He also mentioned there is a reason for Dante to have a beard and for V|the third, unknown character (at the time) to not be holding a weapon in the key art.

In August 13, 2018, Itsuno tweeted that the demo version of the game was finished for Gamescom. In August 21, 2018, the demo was available at Gamescom and it featured an "abridged version" of the second mission of the game.

In August 31, 2018, Itsuno, Okabe and Matt were at PAX West 2018 where they revealed new information about the game such as the confirmation of a Photo Mode to the game, a training mode and detailed information on the different types of the Devil Breakers, it was also mentioned that DMC5 would have a "thing" that would help players catch up to the story of the series. The Gamescom demo was also available to the public at PAX and it was said that the developers made it harder to S rank on purpose because of the special secret message.



In September 19, 2018, a new trailer of the game was shown at TGS, it featured Dante as its spotlight but also showed other characters not yet seen in the game before such as Lady and Trish. During TGS, it was also revealed that Dante would be keeping his Style Switch mechanic and that there is a way to switch the order of equipped weapons. It will also features a voice setting on be able to switch between English and Japanese like in Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, except this is the first game to have the said setting at the original edition’s release date launch, rather than later editions.

In September 23, 2018, Dengeki Online posted another interview with Itsuno, Okabe and Matthew. Among the topics discussed were the fact that the Balrog was the first weapon developed in the game, how the Cavaliere came to life following Itsuno's wish for making a motorcycle a weapon for years, how the Devil Trigger uses less of the gauge now and that there is no way to replenish the gauge with the use of items, how there is a lot of loadout customization in the game, where it allows to plays to bring only a few or all weapons to a Mission, and the small tweaks they made for the "Automatic Mode" where it can be switched on or off on the go and how the player was going to dodge attacks automatically as well, but that was eventually removed as it seemed too overpowered.

In September 24, 2018, Eurogamer posted an interview with the same trio. Topics discussed ranged from V's development, how he is the third playable character and was being made before Star Wars: The Force Awakens had been released, how the developers traveled to London in order to create Red Grave City, how Dante has the option to equip between 2 or all weapons at once, allowing the player to have an easier time switch weapons and how Nero can't change his Devil Breaker at will because they wanted his gameplay to be diffferent from Dante's.

In October 6, 2018, a Devil May Cry 5 panel was present at the New York Comic-Con. The Faust Hat, Cerberus and Kalina Ann 2 were announced as Dante's weapons in the game. There was also new information regarding the DLC Devil Breakers such as the Sweet Surrender serving as a way to heal the player and the Pasta Breaker allowing the player to order the Devil Breakers currently being held. The first cutscene of the game was also shown during the panel.

In October 22, the eCapcom site was updated with a new edition of Devil May Cry 5 called the "Ultra Limited Edition", three versions are available, one that comes with a replica of Nero's coat, one with V's coat and the last with Dante's coat.

In November 11, during the Xbox X018: Mexico Event, new DMC5 info was showcased. For the first time The Void was shown in detail, which is a type of training mode, similar to the one present in DmC: Devil May Cry.

Plot
A few years after Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 2, following Dante’s disappearance from the real world (while being stranded in the demon world), Nero has his own branch of Devil May Cry. He must fight off a demon invasion in Red Grave City after a demonic tree takes root with help from his arm mechanic, Nico. He is also chasing after a man who severed his arm - the Devil Bringer.

The invasion begins when the seeds of a "demon tree" take root in Red Grave City. As this hellish incursion starts to take over the city, a young demon hunter Nero, arrives with his partner Nico in their "Devil May Cry" motorhome. Finding himself without the use of his right arm, Nero enlists Nico, a self-professed weapons artist, to design a variety of unique mechanical Devil Breaker arms to give him extra powers to take on evil demons such as the blood sucking flying Empusa and giant colossus enemy Goliath.

Gameplay
The gameplay will revolve around three playable characters; Nero, Dante and the newcomer V.

To replace the Devil Bringer, Nero wields a cybernetic prosthetic called "Devil Breaker" with many of the same moves as its predecessor, as well as several additional abilities. The first arm Nico makes for Nero, the Overture Devil Breaker, looks plain in style allowing Nero to wear it inconspicuously throughout the city, but the hidden electric generator inside is strong enough to shock any demons that come too close. Adding a bit more versatility, the Gerbera Devil Breaker generates an intense heat that can be shot out as a highly powerful shockwave which can be used as a direct attack, reflect enemy projectiles, or even to propel Nero through the air and augment his evasion capabilities.



Along with his signature blade Rebellion, Dante now fights using 2 new Devil Arms, a pair of chainsaw-like weapons that can combine into a motorcycle, named 'Cavaliere'. And a weapon made of Hellfire called 'Balrog' which forms gauntles and greaves. The weapon has two modes, one focusing on kicks, and the other focusing on hard punches. Additionally, players are able to choose what weapons they wish to bring into a mission similar to Devil May Cry 3, or they can simply bring them all at once. He also has acquired a version of Lady's Kalina Ann made by Nico that allows him to use all the moves Lady could with her own rocket launcher. The Cerberus Devil Arm he acquired during Devil May Cry 3 also returns with two additional modes.

The soundtrack in the game changes based on the player's Stylish Rank, as the style rank goes up, the chorus of the music will start playing.

Within the game, players can encounter Divinity Statues, which act as an in-game shop. Orbs can be traded in. Players can spend real-world money to purchase orbs.

Pre-release
Upon its announcement at E3 2018, the game received positive response from the fanbase. The feedback towards the game's demo shown at various game conventions was also overwhelmingly positive.

The E3 trailer's theme song, Devil Trigger, which is also Nero's main battle theme in the game, reached the number one top song in the United Kingdom's iTunes. Dante's equivalent, Subhuman, had a generally negative reception from fans, its official music video had a high dislike ratio before it was eventually deleted from the official DMC YouTube channel.

After TGS 2018, Devil May Cry 5 won the "Future Division" award from the Japan Game Awards. However, on September 22, 2018, one day before TGS ended, a GameSpot article reported that the game would have microtransactions, this caused concerns from the community, even after producer Matthew Walker responded to multiple questions over the matter on Twitter and a DualShockers article made clear how many Red Orbs the player is able to earn through natural play , many fans still remained skeptical about how these would be implemented in the final game.

On September 2018, Devil May Cry 5 was the top game being pre-ordered on the PS4 and the 4th game at the global top seller list on Steam.